7 Years Later
by Tical
Summary: Seven years after Tales of Symphonia, all of the heroes have settled down, but a new evil has arisen and the Symphonian heroes may have a tough job ahead of them. Rated for violence. Chapter 5 up. Ch. 6 coming soon. Direct sequal to The Ultimate Pairings.
1. Klein, the Aristocratic Assasin

7 years later

This fiction takes place 7 years after the events in Tales of Symphonia. This is a direct sequel to The Ultimate Pairings. Before it begins, lets recap.

Lloyd Irving: 25: Lloyd is currently living in Flanoir with his wife Raine. He has a job as an electrician. He has 2 kids, a four-year-old girl named Shion and a 2-year-old boy named Mithos.

Raine Irving: 30: See Lloyd. Has a job as a doctor.

Colette: 24: Living with her boyfriend Zelos. Currently has no job.

Zelos: 29: Living with his girlfriend Colette at his mansion. Currently working as a high-ranking diplomat.

Regal: 40: Currently engaged with Presea, they have one child, a three-month-old girl named Alicia. Working as the president of the Lezareno Company.

Presea: 18/35: See Regal. Currently has no job.

Sheena: 26: Working as the Vice-Chief and lead diplomat of Mizuho.

Genis: 19: Studying through his last year of college in Sybak.

State of the world(s): Both Tethe'alla and Sylvarant are flourishing and building their economy. All of the places that were destroyed during Tales of Symphonia have been rebuilt, and all of the towns are two times bigger. By studying the Rheiards, the Lezareno Company has begun production, but the use of Rheiards is still restricted to those with a lot of money to fish out. Using the new technology, trains have been invented and tracks connect pretty much everywhere.

This story begins in Altamira at 9:00 PM:

"I'm s-sorry, sir, y-you can't come in here without a reservation," The guards at the door of the Altamira hotel sputtered as they stared down a man who looked like he could destroy a god. The man had spiked orange hair and wore an all-black outfit that looked very similar to Kratos' judgment outfit. The man ignored the guards and kept walking. The two guards stepped in front of the door.

"I-I'm sorry sir but- CcCHG!" The mysterious man had put a sword through the guard's stomach. The other guard stood there, astonished. The man continued to walk towards the entrance.

"Wait!" The other guard shouted. The man stopped. "You just killed my best friend, and for what? So you can get into some hotel? I'll kill you!" The guard came charging at the man who caught him by the face. He lifted the guard a foot off the ground, and then crushed his head. He continued through the doors. He walked up to the main desk.

"Hello, May I see your reservation?" the desk clerk asked.

"Where is Shiden?" he asked coarsely.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot reveal any information about our customers or-," she was cut off by the sight of a nearby man suddenly falling in half.

"You were saying?"

"Third floor…f-first room" She stuttered, then fainted. The deadly orange haired man made his way to the elevator and stood in the door. He looked out at the people in the lobby who were freaking out.

"There can be not witnesses," he said, and then he snapped his fingers before pressing the up button. As soon as he did, a dark circle appeared on the ceiling and a bunch of huge ravens came swooping in and massacred everyone in the lobby.

The man stepped out of the elevator and saw the first room in front of him. With a snap of his fingers he disintegrated the door. He saw a man staring in amazement at what had just happened. The man had a very expensive looking suit on and one of the biggest rooms in the building. It must have been Shiden, representative of Asgard. The mysterious man slowly walked into the room.

"Please, sir. What do you want with me?" Shiden pleaded. "Please, leave me alone, or I will be forced to call the authorities!" The man kept walking closer. Shiden stood his ground and tried to look like he could do something, but he was no match for the man's rock hard stare.

"My name is Klein. Take that with you to hell!" the man said, and then put his arm through Shiden's chest, causing his heart to fly out of his back. Klein then turned around and headed back to the elevator. He took it up to the roof. He jumped off the roof of the building and silver wings sprouted from his back as he flew off into the distance.


	2. Zelos and Genis On the Job!

Chapter 2: Zelos and Genis on the job!

"Damn it!" Zelos screamed as he read through a letter he received.

"What's wrong honey?" Colette asked as she walked into the room in a nightgown. She was holding a plate of biscuits, which she placed on the table and sat down next to Zelos. She looked at him and plopped a biscuit in her mouth. He had an angry look on his face. He slammed the letter on the table.

"Its that damn serial killer again! First he killed the chief diplomat of Flanoir, then the mayor of Iselia, and now the representative of Asgard. He's killing all of the top military officials, and he's tearing our countries apart! The leaders of each continent are blaming it on each other, especially Meltokio since no place on our continent has been hit yet. Pretty soon their going to start blaming Elves or Half-Elves and all Hell is going to break loose because of one guy!" Colette put her arms around his shoulders and lightly massaged them with her hands.

"Calm down, honey. I'm sure they'll figure out who's doing all of this and take him out."

"It's not just that, everywhere he killer goes, he takes out all kinds of innocent bystanders. I feel so powerless. I helped save the world for god's sake! It makes me want to take up my sword and go find and kill him!" he screamed, standing up. Colette stood up and dragged him back to the couch.

"Don't talk like that, honey it makes me worry about you. I don't want you sneaking off one night to go fight evil and I never see you again." She said, with tears in her eyes. Zelos wrapped his arms around her.

"Don't worry honey, I won't die on you."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

That night, Zelos decided he was going to take it upon himself to go find and stop this murderer. He pretended to be asleep until Colette passed out, then he went downstairs and grabbed his sword, which was mounted over the fireplace. He went into his side garage and hopped aboard his rheiard. Zelos took off into the night sky. He had no idea where the man could be, but he knew that he had spiked orange hair and wore all black. Surely there couldn't be that many people who fit that description. Zelos flew all night until he got to Sybak. He slept at an inn and the next morning he set out to find clues. He walked around town asking people if they had seen anyone who met the description, but no one knew anything. He was getting ready to leave town when he heard a familiar voice.

"Zelos!" Genis cried out as he ran towards his red haired friend, "what brings you to this humble college town?" Genis looked at him harshly, "Your not hitting on college girls are you? I don't think Colette would like that!"

"No, silly, I'm looking for info. You've heard about that killer haven't you?"

"The one who took out all those government officials? I heard he put his arm through the mayor of Iselia's skull!" the expression on Genis' face was almost one of joy as he described the mayor's gruesome death.

"Yeah, well I'm trying to find him. The bastard's tearing this world apart. Next thing you know discrimination against half-elves will start up again and everything you and Raine worked for will go to waste." This wiped the smug grin clean off of Genis' face and replaced it with a scowl of anger.

"Let me come with you!" Genis yelled, "I'm on summer break now, so I can do whatever I want!" Zelos stared at him. He could use a little help, and Genis was a smart kid.

"Alright, kid, hop aboard." Zelos grinned, and the two took off. "Where should we head to next?" Zelos asked.

"Lets head for Mizuho, I'm sure their information network could be of some use to us."


	3. The Saddest Moment of Our Lives

Chapter 3: The Saddest Moment of Our Lives

Zelos and Genis made their way to Mizuho and headed for Sheena's office. Zelos had been here plenty of times on business trips, but Genis was amazed at how big the city had gotten. Zelos knocked on the door to Sheena's office.

"Come on in!" She called through the door. They walked in to find Sheena filing out paperwork. She looked up and smiled at the site of Genis and Zelos. She hadn't seen Genis in nearly 2 years.

"Genis! Great to see you! Holy crap you're taller than me! And Zelos… hey wait why are you two here?"

"Glad you asked," Zelos answered, "We'd like to ask for the aid of your information network."

"If you're trying to find the serial killer, you're just in time! My men are on their way here with a full report. They've been scouring both worlds for information and they should be here any minute! So, what have you guys been doing?" Zelos and Genis had a seat and they talked with Sheena about how things were. After around five minutes, there was a knock at the door.

"That must be them. Come in!" The door swung open and a man in all black with spiked orange hair came walking in. His armor was tainted with blood. Sheena could see two corpses out in the hallway. Zelos quickly drew his sword and Sheena pulled some cards out of her shirt. Genis grabbed his Kendama from his backpack and got ready to fight.

"I'm only here for her." The man said motioning towards Sheena.

"We won't let you have her!" Genis screamed.

"You don't have much of a choice in the matter." He said calmly. He held up his hand and formed a ball of dark energy, which he shot at Genis. It hit him in the chest and sent him flying out the window. Zelos and Sheena charged at the man, but a gust of wind surrounded him and pushed them back. Zelos landed on his feet, but Sheena fell through her desk. Zelos quickly charged at the man full speed and slammed his sword into the side of his head, but the man didn't even flinch. He unsheathed his sword and slashed Zelos across he chest. Zelos fell to the ground and the man assumed he was dead, but he was merely unconscious. Sheena charged at him with her cards forming a blade, which he blocked with his sword.

"Just… who are you?" she asked as she tried to knock him off-balance.

"My name is Klein. Now die!" Klein broke through Sheena's card blade then took his sword and thrust it into her stomach. She didn't make a sound. Blood trickled down her chin. She opened her mouth and blood poured out.

"Do you want me to end your misery now, or should I let you suffer?" Klein asked. Sheena tried to speak but blood just poured from her mouth. Finally she worked up the will to speak.

"I'd… rather… suffer," she said. Klein merely shrugged then his wings spread out and he jumped through the ceiling and flew away. Just as he did, a group of ninja stormed into the office and grabbed Sheena.

"Chief? Chief! Can you hear me? Sheena!" one of the ninja screamed holding her in his arms.

"His name… is Klein… he's… an angel…" she said as she breathed through blood.

"Don't worry, chief, we're going to help you!" but she was already dead.


	4. The Irving Family Has the Floor

Chapter 4: The Irving family has the floor.

Lloyd stumbled through the door of his house after a hard day at work. He set down his cooler and took off his hat when suddenly Shion came running up to him with little Mithos not far behind.

"Daddy!" she screamed as she ran up to hug her dad, he quickly scooped her up and hugged her tightly, then scooped up Mithos as well.

"Where's mommy? She closed early today." Raine used their house as a doctor's office, and the sign on the door read closed.

"Mommy's upstairs crying. She said not to ask about it." Lloyd got worried and ran up to his room. He opened the door to find Raine sitting on the bed with her head in her hands crying. He sat down next to her and started hugging her.

"Raine, what happened?"

"I can't. You'll storm off and get yourself killed!" Now Lloyd was really worried.

"Raine please! What happened?"

"Sh…Sheena…is dead." Lloyd's heart skipped a beat as his eyes filled with tears.

"How did this happen? Some one needs to pay!" He yelled.

"See? I knew you would do this! Your going to go find him aren't you?" Lloyd sat back down and held her tight.

"No…I can't put my life on the line… I have a family now" he said. The two held each other and cried for hours until Raine finally spoke.

"My brother… and Zelos… are in the hospital."

"What? Them to? Where are they?"

"They're in Mizuho. They we're visiting Sheena when she was killed."

"Is there any way we could get there?"

"Well, we can't take the kids on the Rheiards… we could use the Elemental Carrier!"

"Alright then. Tomorrow we'll head to Mizuho." Lloyd and Raine cried themselves to sleep and the next day they headed out to the docks with the kids. Shion was thrilled that they would be riding on a boat, but Raine wasn't so happy about it. They drove the elemental carrier for about 10 hours before they reached the river leading into Mizuho. When they finally got there, Lloyd lets Shion ride on his back, while Mithos walked alongside Raine. They entered the city of Mizuho and Shion was laughing at the men who seemed to be wearing dresses. Finally they got to the hospital and the clerk directed them to Genis' room. Genis got up out of bed when his family came in. His chest was covered in bandages. Shion ran up to him with delight!

"Uncle Genis! Hey, what happened to you? You look like a mummy!" Genis hoisted her onto his knee.

"Hey there Shion!" He looked over at his sister who was running towards him with tears in her eyes. She hugged him then backed up and slapped him across the face.

"What the Hell were you thinking?" she screamed at him. "You nearly got yourself killed!"

"Hey! How was I supposed to know that a serial killer was going to attack me?" he yelled back. Raine got ready to slap him again, but the lowered her hand and hugged him again.

"I could have lost you…" she whimpered between her cries. Genis hugged her in return and then let go. Lloyd walked up to him and gave him a manly hug/back pat.

"What's up Genis?"

"Not much"

"Got a girlfriend yet?"

"As a matter of fact I- hey wasn't that Colette?" Genis pointed towards the doorway, "I could have sworn I just saw Colette run past the door!"

"She must have been headed for Zelos' room" Raine inquired. Lets follow her.

"Wait for me!" Genis cried trying to stand up.

"You will stay here!" Raine shouted at him, glaring. The Irving family slowly stepped into Zelos' room where they found Colette crying with her head on his chest and he was hugging her tightly.

"I told you not to go! I could have lost you! How could I live without you? Tell me!" she yelled. Colette kept crying and said, "I'm sorry." Lloyd came walking into the room.

"You're still the same old Colette, always apologizing for things you didn't do." Lloyd laughed. Colette turned around and was filled with joy to see Lloyd. She ran up and hugged him then ran over and hugged Raine. Lloyd couldn't help but notice that she was wearing nothing but a nightgown and no pants or shoes.

"Um… Colette did you just get out of bed?" Shion asked. Colette bent down to her eye level.

"No way, this is what I always wear!" She said, hoisting Shion in the air and hugging her.

"Hey! I'm not a baby!" Shion said. Colette then picked up Mithos instead.

"Hey! I no baby!" he said, trying to sound tough. Colette just giggled and put him on her shoulders. Lloyd walked over to Zelos' bedside.

"Hey there bud." He said through the bandages covering his mouth and torso. Lloyd punched him in the face.

"That's for running off trying to get yourself killed!" Lloyd yelled.

"I… deserved that," he mumbled.

"Lloyd!" Colette yelled, "You're going to break him!" Colette rubbed her hand across Zelos' head.

"Oh Zelos… how long will you be like this? Does this mean we can't"

"Not in front of the kids," Zelos interrupted. He then sat up and removed the bandages from his mouth. "Look, I don't want to drag you guys into all this. You guys have a family now; I can't have you carrying my burden. The killer probably didn't realize who I was when he… took Sheena, but he'll be after me soon enough. I want you all to leave this hospital."

"No!" Colette screamed, tears swelling in her eyes. "I won't leave your side! If the killer wants to kill you he'll have to get through me!" She screamed.

"Us." Lloyd followed.

"Lloyd!" Raine yelled.

"I just want to watch him for a few days and make sure he isn't attacked. I can't bear to loose another friend!" Lloyd said in return.

"All right," Raine answered. "But me in the kids will stay with Genis and keep him company.


	5. Crouching Assassin Hidden Yuan

Chapter 5: Crouching Assassin Hidden Yuan

Lloyd and Colette took turns that night patrolling Zelos' bed while Raine and the kids stayed in Genis' room. The next day Raine decided to take the kids around town while Lloyd and Colette stood guard. Raine and the kid's went out and bought ice cream and played in the bathhouse and had an all-around good time. Meanwhile Zelos received bad news. The representative of Palmacosta had been struck down in his own house along with his wife and 8-year old son. Zelos fumed with anger and crumpled the paper, throwing it to the ground. He knew that as soon as the killer realized who he was, he'd come strait here.

"Oh Zelos," Colette cried. She wrapped her arms around him and started kissing him. He lifted her up and put her on top of him and they started making out.

"I'll just… be outside," Lloyd said and quickly made his way out the door. He quickly pressed his ear on the door to hear what was going on.

"I brought some condoms" he heard Colette say.

"You always no how to make me happy!" Zelos replied. He heard an unzipping noise and 10 seconds later load moaning sounds started coming out of the room. He heard the springs in Zelos' bed moving up and down. The noises kept up for a whole ten minutes! _No wonder she never wears pants_ Lloyd thought_ she's always in his!_ He waited for a while, got a drink, and stood around for an hour before he finally walked back into the room. Colette was sleeping in a chair, but Zelos was still awake. Lloyd walked over to him to find him crying.

"You miss Sheena, don't you?" he asked sorrowfully. Zelos looked back at him.

"She was the first woman I ever loved," Zelos uttered in reply, "I'm just glad she died like she always said she wanted to die, protecting her home." Lloyd took a seat next to him and they both stayed silent for almost and hour. Lloyd finally had to go to the bathroom. On his way back he was walking through the halls when he heard a voice.

"Daddy!" Shion yelled as she came running through the halls. She ran right up to Lloyd who lifted her in his right arm and waited for Mithos to catch up. Mithos was running as well, then tripped and fell on his face. He started crying. Lloyd quickly scooped him up and held him close. Raine came walking over to and used her first aid technique on Mithos.

"Mommy, could you use your magic to help uncle Genis?" Shion asked.

"No honey, mommy can only heal minor wounds and illnesses. Uncle Genis was hurt really badly."

"Is he going to be alright mommy? What if he dies? I don't want uncle Genis to die!" She yelled and started crying along with Mithos. Raine remembered Sheena and fought back tears so she could comfort her children.

"Go play with uncle Genis, kids, mommy and daddy have to talk," Lloyd said. The kids quickly darted into Genis' room. Lloyd wrapped his arms around Raine who was beginning to cry. "Don't worry, Raine, everything will be okay, I promise. If nothing happens tonight we'll leave tomorrow afternoon, okay?" Raine nodded and he continued to hold her.

Once again Lloyd and Colette were standing guard. It was 2:00 when they heard the door creaking open. Colette quickly hid in the bathroom while Lloyd hid behind a way. Zelos was still asleep. It was a man with orange hair wearing all black. He stepped up to Zelos' bedside.

"I have to spill your blood… with my own hand!" he muttered. Colette quietly stepped out of the bathroom and her wings appeared on her back. She began and incantation and then suddenly yelled.

"Angel Feathers!" she screamed. The man spun around only to find two huge spinning purple Chakrams flying towards him. The Chakrams slammed into his chest and threw him over Zelos and into the wall. He slid down the wall and landed on the ground. He was staring at Colette.

"M…Martel!" the man whispered. He realized it wasn't Martel and slowly stood up. Suddenly Lloyd came running from behind the wall.

"I don't think so!" He screamed then plunged his dual blades into the man's stomach. Blood erupted from the wound and poured from his mouth. He looked down to see the exphere on Lloyd's hand. The man put his ands on the wall behind him and blasted it open. He revealed his wings and flew out of the building.

"I am Klein, servant of Mithos and the Seraphim. Remember that name." And he flew off into the night sky. Lloyd stood there stunned by what he had heard. They quickly alarmed the hospital staff and the next day Zelos was to be moved to the Meltokio hospital. Lloyd and Colette went to bed and were woken up the next day by Shion running around the room. Lloyd decided to talk with Zelos. Zelos was able to sit up now and they discussed the situation.

"His name is Klein. He is an angel and he said he was working for Mithos," Lloyd said. This came as a shock to Zelos.

"We can't do anything without more information." Zelos said in reply.

"I know. I have decided that I am going to try and find Yuan. I'm going to start in Heimdall. I think that Yuan was born there." And so Lloyd took his family on a "field trip" to see an "old friend" while Zelos was moved to Meltokio hospital. Genis was released from the hospital and headed back to Sybak using Zelos' Rheiard.


End file.
